Unionville High School (Ontario)

Infobox Education in Canada
name= Unionville High School


imagesize= 200px
motto= "Create and Achieve"
motto_translation=
streetaddress= 201 Town Centre Blvd.
city= Markham
province= Ontario
postalcode= L3R 8G5
areacode= 905
phone= 479 - 2787
fax= 479 - 1539
email= [e-mail]
url= [http://www.unionville.hs.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ www.unionville.hs.yrdsb.edu.on.ca]
schoolnumber=
schoolboard= York Region District School Board
affiliation= Secular
superintendent= John Havercroft
trustee= Elizabeth Richardson
principal= Isabel Schnapp
viceprincipal= Mr.Freeman, Elizabeth Kennedy, Meshell Lynch-James
Site Admin= Troy Rowe
schooltype= Public Secondary School
grades= 9-12
language= English, French
area= York Region
mascot= Wolves
teamname= Unionville Wolves
colours= Maroon
founded= 1985
enrollment= 2100 (2008-2009)
bgcolor_section= #FAB2C1
bgcolor_label= #DBC0C5
bgcolor_value= #FAD5DC
bgcolor_

bgcolor_address= #FAD5DC

Unionville High School (commonly known as UHS) is a public high school of the York Region District School Board. It is located on Town Centre Boulevard in the community of Unionville in the town of Markham, Ontario, and is situated next to the Markham Theatre and the town's municipal offices. The school's motto is "Create and Achieve". Its mascot is the wolf. Facilities in Unionville High include: visual art rooms, cafeteria, classrooms, communication/new media lab, construction lab, design & technological lab, dance studios, family studies labs, black box theatre, guidance office, two gymnasiums, music rooms, drama rooms, outdoor fields, outdoor track, music practice rooms, resource center, science labs, staff dining room, staff workrooms, student council office, student parking facilities, washrooms and shower facilities, weight room, and the yearbook office. There are approximately 350 computers in the school, distributed into 12 computer labs. Two of the twelve are Apple Mac computer labs, used mainly for Arts York Music students for composition and technology students in order to take advantage of Apple's state of the art software to aid students with such tasks.

In 2006, Unionville High School was recognized as the best and highest academically-ranked high school in the Greater Toronto Area, according to the Fraser Institute. The same recognition was also achieved in 2007, where Unionville High School was also ranked 4th out of all Public, Catholic and Private High Schools over the entire province of Ontario.

Unionville High School is most well-known for its enriched arts program, Arts York. The school was originally built to house this regional arts program, therefore it has enhanced arts facilities. Arts York is divided into 4 categories: visual arts, music, dance, and drama. In order to gain entry to these unique programs, grade eight to eleven students are required to audition.

History

In the mid 1970s, Superintendent Stephen Bacsalmsi created the idea of an advanced arts program. The Ontario government accepted the idea but needed to wait for a new high school to be built. When Unionville High School was under construction, the government decided it was a prime opportunity to initiate the program. The school was finished and opened to the public in 1985, with a new west wing being completed as of Spring 2002. Unionville High School also became the first school outside the United States to participate in the Apple Digital Campus Curriculum (ADCC) in 2002. In 2006, Unionville High School received a 9.4/10 rating in the Fraser Institute Report being tied with three other schools for the highest mark in Ontario. In 2005 Sheila Hetherington & Jerry Berridge, teachers in the history and tech departments were recipients of the Governor General’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History and in 2006 these teacher won the Prime Ministers Awards for teaching excellence. Donna McAdam was also a recipient of the 2007/2008 Premier's Awards for Teaching Excellence. [http://www.fraserinstitute.org/Commerce.Web/product_files/70ONESC07DTTO.pdf]

Program

Arts York

Arts York is a four year program that high school students take concurrent with the mainstream program. The high school takes students from all over the Greater Toronto Area. One famous graduate of this program is Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars movies. Another famous graduate is Jon Lee, who is currently attending Queens, who plays Counter Strike during most of his classes and is famous for his rank in Counter Strike 1.6 Tournaments.

Musical arts

The Musical Arts department is the biggest section of Arts York at Unionville High School. There are four classrooms for music and is situated in the east wing of the school directly adjacent to the underground link to Markham Theater. Because of the strategic placement, it is often said that the Music department is located on its own east wing.

The Arts York Music program is separated into four categories; piano, winds, strings, and vocal. Classes are divided into two categories - performance and non-performance. In performances classes, students play scales, studies, and other short pieces; in the non-performance classes, components such as music history, rudiments, and harmony are taught.

Visual arts

The Visual Arts program provides opportunities for individual creative and imaginative growth as well as development of technical skills. Students of this program will be introduced to experimental and traditional directions in drawing and painting. They will also specialize in sculpture, photography, printmaking (etching and silkscreen), ceramics, textiles and video. There will also be studies in the history of art and critical analyses of one's own work. The student's discovery of individual strengths and directions is a prime focus. For the purpose of developing the aptitudes of talented students interested in the Visual Arts, programs are being offered in all four years.

Drama arts

Drama is another strand of Arts York. This is a very popular program - competition for admission is tough. Over 300 people audition; and only 40-50 spots are available.

Dance arts

Dance arts is another popular program in Arts York. Notable graduates include figure skater Emanuel Sandhu. Students in this program are given opportunities to participate in dance programs such as Dance Access, and 'The Nutcracker' productions in December, lead by the National Ballet of Canada.

Former programs

Unionville High School formally housed other programs other than Arts York. The former programs were-
*NewMediaNewMedia was a program that ran for 3 years from 2003 to 2006. Although it wasn't as popular as its Arts York counterpart, it still was considered a respectable program within York Region. Students were introduced and studies extensively into Communication Technology and the study of Graphic Design. There was only one class per grade, approximately 30 students per class. The reasons for closure were funding problems and attendance problems. This was due to the fact that it was only publicized to students in the Markham area to join, unlike the Arts York program, which accepts students from all over York Region.

Clubs and extracurricular activities

port

Besides the schools arts programs, the school also has a respectable athletics program which competes in the [http://www.yraa.com/src/index.php York Region Athletic Association] and OFSAA.

These are the following school along with respectable finishes in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons (ongoing):

*4 Basketball teams (Jr. Boys, Sr. Boys, Jr. Girls, Sr. Girls)
**Sr. Girls wins YRAA Tier 2 Sr. Basketball.
*4 Volleyball teams (Jr. Boys, Sr. Boys, Jr. Girls, Sr. Girls)
**Jr. Boys - Runner up Jr. YRAA Championships (05-06), Jr. YRAA Champions (06-07)
**Sr. Boys - Sr. YRAA Champions(05-06) (06-07)
**Sr. Boys YRAA Champions in 2005-06 and 2006-07
**Sr. Girls YRAA Champions in 2003-04, placing 4th at OFSAA
*3 Hockey teams (Jr. Boys, Sr. Boys, Girls)
**Sr. Boys hockey team wins YRAA Sr. Hockey Championships allowing them to advance to OFSAA.
*Girls Field Hockey team
**Team wins YRAA Field Hockey allowing them to advance to OFSAA.
*2 Badminton teams (Jr., Sr.)
*Table Tennis team
*Golf team
*Boys Soccer team
**2006 Champions
*Girls Rugby team
*Swim team
**Ranked 3rd overall in YRAA, few individual swimmers advance to OFSAA
*Ski and Snowboard team
*Boys Baseball team
*Girls Slowpitch team
*Ultimate Frisbee team
*Track and Field team
**Scored most points in YRAA, and Central Championships. Advancing to OFSAA bringing 8 medals.
*Wrestling team
* Figure skating team
* Fencing team
* Construction team

Clubs

Some clubs include:
*Games Club for Strategic Thinking - A club where students gather to play games such as International and Chinese Chess, Chinese Mah Jong, Game of Go, and more.
*Debate Club - founded in 2005, it held its first official tournament against Bayview Secondary School under the supervision of staff from both schools
*UHS Robotics - A club that constructs a robot to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
*Bridges - One of the multicultural clubs at UHS
*Becoming Successful - BS club teaches students various skills in becoming successful individuals in society
*Mandarin - Club promoting the culture in Mandarin China
*Rubik's cube - Dedicated to solving various kinds of Puzzles such as the rubik's cube
*Charis Christian Fellowship - Unionville High School's Christian fellowship designed to encourage students be the salt and light of UHS
*Free The Children - A charitable organization promoting youths helping youths around the world
*Chinese Debating Club - A club for Chinese Debating
*Ecoaction - A club dedicated to the environment.
*Investment Club - A club that competes in the Wilfrid Laurier Investment Competition.
*Table Tennis - A club for extracurricular activity for the sport of ping pong.
*T.O.F.U. (Taste of the Far-East at Unionville) - A club that focuses on Asian cuisine.
*sIntacKs - The high school's student publication, a literary and arts magazine published twice a year.
*Trained Responders - A club that provides first aid within the school
*uDesign & uMedia - Two clubs in one, dedicated to enhancing students' skills in Flash technology as well as giving them an opportunity to enter Flash competitions. Created as an alternative for the defunct newMedia program.
*Reach for the Top - Made up of Senior and Intermediate teams competing in regional and provincial trivia competitions
*DECA - Created to educate students on the study and practice of business and to compete in DECA competitions.
*FFAC - Food and Film Appreciation Club, where students come to enjoy social interaction, a great selection of viewing films, and the food that bonds everyone together!

Notable alumni

*Lani Billard, actress in "Ready or Not"
*Steve Byers, actor in "Falcon Beach"
*Hayden Christensen, actor in "Star Wars" series, "Life as a house", and " Awake"
*Emmanuelle Chriqui, actress in "Entourage", "On The Line", "Snow Day", and "In the Mix"
*Emanuel Sandhu, figure skater
*Nathan Stephenson, actor in "Radio Free Roscoe"
*Cody Hodgson, ice hockey player for the OHL's Brampton Battalion and Vancouver Canucks first round draft pick (10th overall)
*Jay Bathija, Muay Thai fighter, former Canadian Super-Middleweight Champion
*Christina Cox, actress in ""

ee also

* Arts York
* Huron Heights Secondary School
* St. Elizabeth Catholic High School
* Westmount Collegiate Institute

ources

*This article includes extracts from the York Region District School Board web site and the Arts York course calendar of 2004 and 2005.

External links

* [http://www.unionville.hs.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ Unionville High School]
* [http://www.artsyork.com/ Arts York official website]
* [http://uhscommtech.ca/ Comm Tech official website]